Scottish Water finance and regulation director Douglas Millican has been appointed as interim chief executive following the sudden death of Richard Ackroyd.

Millican has been finance and regulation director of Scottish Water since its formation.

His appointment followed a meeting of the Scottish Water board, who paid tribute to the leadership and progress made by Scottish Water under Richard Ackroyd, expressed their sorrow at his loss and passed on their thoughts and wishes to his family.

Millican said: “I feel privileged to be able to pick up the reins at this difficult time. With the support of my fellow members of the executive leadership team we will continue our progress, which is what Richard would have wanted.”

Scottish Water said a normal public sector appointment process will now be initiated to find a permanent replacement for Richard Ackroyd.